This major Shortland Street character could be leaving the show!

WARNING - THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS!

It has been revealed Dr Chris Warner's future is currently uncertain, as the Shortland Street favourite is about to be diagnosed with leukaemia.

The news of the upcoming storyline came as a shock to actor Michael Galvin, who told TV Guide he "was terrified."

"I got that script and in the notes between the lines it said, 'Chris doesn't know it yet but he has a serious illness'. So Michael the actor goes, 'What? A serious illness? I know what that means'.

"So I go to the makeup room – because the makeup department know things before everyone else – and say, 'Does anyone know about this serious illness Chris has got? It's not that serious right?' and one of the makeup women goes, 'I think it's leukaemia'.

"So I run downstairs to our producer, and she is in a meeting, and I interrupt her and say, 'Excuse me, do I have leukaemia? Does Chris get leukaemia?' And she says, 'Yes'."

Galvin, who has played Chris for all but four of its 25 years on air, says his character is potentially facing death, as only one in four leukaemia sufferers survive the illness and there are no guarantees that Chris Warner will be one of them.

"I really think this is going to be my most memorable storyline. It's certainly had challenges like no other (I've done)," he says.

"His life really is in the balance in a way that it hasn't been before over a protracted period and it gets worse, too. It just gets darker and darker for Chris.

"I would say it's probably the most dramatic storyline and, in a way, probably one of the most important because so many people have an experience of leukaemia – if not themselves, then with someone they know.

"So that's a responsibility for us to make it authentic and for me to make it authentic and I take that very seriously."

We hope this won't be the end for Dr Chris Warner!